The Fox Boy  Oneshots
by Kari Suttle
Summary: A series of oneshots taken out or omitted from The Fox Boy. Kit is an excitable, curious, stubborn boy who happens to be half fox demon. He has a bad habit of running off and tends to get into trouble.
1. Chapter 1

Introduction

The fox boy growled, following the big, black beetle. It had been prowling around him and his mama's new home for an hour now. He was hungry, and the beetle was in their room, their territory, so he was hunting it. His mama had told him to practice his hunting skills whenever he could, which Kit liked because play hunting was fun! This particular beetle was his fifth catch today.

"Kit, I'm going now." He nodded, only half listening. Only a meter away now! "Kit!" He stopped in his tracks. His mama's voice was loud, angry. He was in trouble!

"Yes, mama?" he answered, belly low to the ground in submission, the fluffy red ears atop his head pinned back in fear.

"I said I'm going now. To work." Her voice was even, hiding frustration as she tied the white ribbon, confining her long, long, blood-red hair, as red as his, but much longer, much straighter, less messy. "Stay here in the den. We're on the third level, so humans shouldn't find you while I'm gone. Remember Kit, _stay here_."

"Okay mama!" he replied, yipping happily. He would have the whole den to himself now! "Back when moon high in sky?"

"Yes." His mama changed into her work clothes. His mama turned to him, fluffing his messy, shoulder-length red hair as she walked out the door. "Goodbye."

"Bye mama!" he called, waving to her with his tiny hand, skinned like a human's but so much stronger. He loved it when mama was home, when he could lay in her lap and listen to her read stories, but he loved it even more when his mama left and he could practice hunting all by himself!

Yipping excitedly, he darted around the room, looking for the beetle he had been stalking earlier. "Mama gone work! Yay!" he cried, "Kit hunt beetle now! Kit hunt beetle now!" He spotted the beetle by the closet door. Crawling, he moved in, lowering onto all fours and staying low to the ground, ears up and listening, nose following its scent. "Beetle mine!" he yelled, growling low as he leaped after it. But the beetle moved out of the way, scurrying toward the door. "No! Mean beetle!" snarling, he darted after it, completely forgetting his mama's orders. "Beetle mine!" Growing and spitting, he ran after the beetle, leaping and crawling further and further from his and mama's new den. Down, down the steps he went, through the old, creaky door out into the city. "No, no, no!" he yelled, frustrated. "Mean, mean beetle! I eat you!" Churning his anger into his leap, Kit jumped and caught the beetle in his clawed hands, piercing through its small, fragile body. "Kit caught mean beetle! Kit hunted beetle!" he yelled, yipping happily as he ate the beetle. "Kit tell Mama!" he cried. He stood and looked around him. His small, five year old face scrunched up in confusion.

"Where mama?" he couldn't see her anywhere! The new den-building was nowhere in sight, either. Kit began to shake, partly from the cold autumn air, partly from fear. He sniffed the air. No mama.

His ears drooped. "…Mama?" Mama was at work, and he didn't know where Mama worked! Mama never told him. Maybe he could sniff around the city and find his Mama that way? Yes! A grin appeared on his face, replacing his formerly forlorn gaze.

Focusing his senses, the fluffy red ears atop his red mop of hair flicked forward, alert for the slightest sound of his mama's familiar footfall pattern. Nothing. He pouted, then grinned as an idea came to mind. Once, he had gotten lost in the new apartment-den and had to find his mama by himself cause it was late at night. He had discovered then that his mama's scent, because she was a full demon, was much stronger – more 'potent' mama had explained – than that of the humans that lived in the city. Kit was a halfbreed – half demon, half human – so his scent would likely be somewhere in between.

Scenting the air, he searched desperately, turning his head to the east, the west, the grocery store, everywhere. He went up and down the block, sniffing the air every third of the block. Then he found it.

"Mama!" he cried, yipping in relief and excitement. Her scent was nearby! Just to the northwest, off by a few blocks. Cutting through the alleys, he ran after her scent, on all fours once more, his red, fluffy, white-tipped tail flowing out behind him. "Mama help Kit!" he cried, his voice hopeful, "Mama be angry, but mama help!"

Dead end alleyways, abandoned buildings, gigantic green garbage bins, flew by like a grey blur dotted with the occasional green. He came out to the main street between a general store and a small clothing store. Panting, his tiny six year old chest heaving, he paused, halting and crouching at the mouth of the alley to catch his breath as be scented the air, sniffing to pinpoint his mama's scent. A big grin lit up his face when he found it.

"Mama!" he cried, darting in the direction of the big, white building with lots of floors and hundreds of work-dens inside – mama said they were "offices" but he called them dens. He _was_ a fox halfbreed, and he didn't know all the human words for stuff like his mama did. So he called them was his instincts said they were – temporary dens used for work outside the human's real den.

He would have rammed right through the door, pushing it open with his weight, unhindered, as he usually did – his mama scolded him for that, too, just like she did for straying from the den – but instead, he came to a screeching halt, ears pinned back to his skull in bewilderment. The doors! They moved!

Whimpering, he backed away from the door, crouched down on all fours, tail curled around him like a safety blanket, ears pinned to his head, belly low, generally trying to make himself look as small and submissive as possible. The doors, it was like, like they were alive! But doors weren't people or demons, even halfbreeds! They couldn't move. And humans couldn't control doors, either, cause they didn't have powers like demons like his mama did. So why did the two double doors turn into four big, thick, glass doors spinning rhythmically around a black pole? Did a demon possess it? His whimpers heightened at the thought and he cowered all the more. Demons were strong! Scary strong! Humans made to kick him as they tried to walk around him, glaring as they looked down at him and insulted him, called him names, mean names. Kit glared back in defiance of their anger, swiping out at the human's ankles with his clawed hands as they trailed away. He missed some, others he hit. He smiled victoriously when some of the ones he hit received angry red cuts on their ankles that made them yelp in pain. Some of those humans came back for him, angry and vengeful. Kit's victorious expression faded, replaced by an expression that could only be read as "oh _crap_!"

With a series of high pitched yips, Kit raced through the terrifying possessed doors – the lesser of two evils at the moment, seeing as his Mama was in there, past them, and his Mama was safe - dodging them as he ran through the first den-room and into the small, metal, moving den-room at the end of the corridor branching off of the first den-room. This small, metal, moving den-room had big, metal doors – the thickest doors he had ever seen! These doors closed, locking the angry, vengeful humans out.

Kit breathed a sigh of relief. "Kit free!" That settled, Kit needed to figure out how to make the moving den-room move. He had been in one of these with his mama before, but he had been _much_ younger and had forgotten how they worked it had been so long.

"How Mama work moving den-room?" he mused, eyeing the array of pretty black and white buttons near the doors. He recognized them as numbers. He knew numbers were used to count things – apples, cars, lots of stuff. But what could numbers count in a moving den-room? Kit's face scrunched up in thought. "Kit want out, but not with mean humans. But how get out 'way from them?" He glanced around the small enclosement, his bright amber eyes scanning everything. Left, right, in front, in back. Then up. Up! There it was. It was a small door, with a latch hanging down from it. If he had a big ladder, he might be able to reach it.

He moved below the small door and jumped. Nope, way too short. He jumped higher, giving a tiny grunt of effort as he did so. He growled in frustration. Still short! Huffing, he crossed his arms, tail swishing angrily. He eyed the buttons, venting his anger on them as he bore his angry amber gaze into their white letters.

Then it came to him. An idea! The black and white letters were buttons, right? And buttons always had cords and wires to work them, right? He had played with them before – and got in big trouble with Mama. He remembered that the cords and wires were long and that he could throw them. Maybe the wires could reach the small door! Tearing at the buttons, he tore them off and removed the plate covering the buttons, then the buttons themselves, all by force and the sharp claws on his hands. Finding a thin, long, shiny cord, he ripped it out of the moving den-room's wall. Electricity crackled, sparking and making him cry out in surprise, landing hard on his butt with a yip of suprise. Scared, but unscathed, Kit blinked, confused, looking at the wire and the den-room wall. The wire was sparking, but slowly starting to stop. Then no more. Well, now he could use it!

Grabbing a piece of torn metal, he proceeded to tie it to one end of the wire. There! The wire would reach the tiny door, and the metal would latch onto it and make it open. Then, because Kit was so small, he could hold onto it and climb up it like he was climbing a rope!

Taking the opposite end of the wire, he heaved it in the air, flying it around like a cowboy from the books his Mama read him. With a determined yip, he threw the wire at the small door. There! It got it! He beamed.

Climbing up the wire was easy, and Kit deposited the wire back in the moving den-room before looking around his new surroundings. He was sitting on top of the moving den-room now, and it looked like he was in a corridor, only for some reason this corridor went up and down instead of side to side.

He would have happily explored all the different openings that branched off the upwards corridor if he hadn't got a sudden good whiff of the air. "Mama's scent!" Mama was close by! Jumping, he leapt for the first opening. His claws dug into the concrete and he pulled himself up into the small opening. It was just bigger than him, and cold air issued from it. He shivered. Luckily, his mama's scent wasn't down that one. Swishing his white-tipped red tail, he leaped for the next opening. Claws barely reached the concrete and he had to work extra hard to vault himself up. This was where Mama was! Running down the opening, completely ignoring all the human scents that assaulted his nose, he raced straight for his Mama's scent. He halted when he found its source.

The opening was just above the work-den his Mama was in, and if he kicked it hard enough, he imagined he could make it fall so he could jump down to his Mama. First, though, he wanted to spy on Mama. He'd never got to see Mama at work before!

Mama was in front of a _big_ sheet of paper that hung from the ceiling, talking to several humans about what was on it. "…and so, in conclusion, if we chose to go with Plan A, our sales will increase by at least 70%, if not double." So his Mama helped humans make decisions in selling stuff? He wrinkled his nose in disgust. Weird job! Bored with the idea of watching Mama talk about selling stuff – the most boring job ever, in his opinion, his Mama's work at the carnival a month ago had been _much_ funner to watch – Kit decided to go in. His way, of course; he kicked the door open, sending it falling to the work-den floor with a big, loud crash.

"Mama!" he exclaimed, leaping down onto the table and running to his Mama, jumping into her surprised arms and hugging her close. He trembled as he remembered why he was there in the first place, how he couldn't get home, how the humans were mean, and how he couldn't get out of the moving den-room and how he was _so_ sorry for not listening, but he would be_ really_ good for the _rest_ of the day! He would fix her dinner, even! Not that he knew how, but he could learn how! Or go buy her her favorite food from the restaurant!

His Mama's furious glare softened slightly as she looked at her scared little Kit, who looked almost vulnerable as his tail curled around him nervously and his ears twitched at every noise. She sighed. What else had she expected? He _was_ a fox kid, and all fox demons were overly curious and adventurous as kits. Kit was no different, despite being half-human.

She wrapped her arms around Kit, holding him close to her and rubbing his back, comfortingly. He'd always loved that, even as a newborn foxling. She felt him relax as he laid his head on her shoulder. "Its alright, Kit. You're safe now, and I'll take you home, okay?"

Kit nodded, eyes creaking open to gaze at her, half-asleep, yet half-awake. "Thank you, Mama…" His words came out as mumbles, half drowned in her black coat, but her enhanced hearing picked up on them. "Kit knew Mama help Kit…Kit go sleep now, 'kay?"

She nodded. "Yes, Kit, go ahead." Kit smiled. "When you wake up, you'll be in your own bed."


	2. Chapter 2

It was 8 am by the time the sun came creeping through the old, faded blinds of Kit's room. The little fox boy groaned in annoyance, unconsciously shrinking from the light of the blinds as he fumbled for the blankets, trying to pry them over his face and hide from the light.

"No morning…" he mumbled, "No wake up!" His last exclamation would have been louder had he not half buried his face in the pillow. In fact, if it hadn't been for the footfalls echoing from the hall, he would not have stayed awake, either. His ears perked up, and his eyes flew open as a grin made its way to his face. He recognized those footsteps. "Mama!" That was when he realized. Mama only came to his room and woke him up on Saturday. "It _Saturday_!" He yelled, yipping in excitement as he bolted from his bed and over to the door, flinging it open just as his mama reached the door.

Bouncing with excitement, he greeted her. "Hi mama! Out for breakfast?" His last question was more of an excited statement than an actual question.

His mama nodded, laughing at his eagerness. "Yes, Kit, we're going out to eat today." Kit cheered. "How do pancakes sound?"

"With chocolate chip?" he asked, tentative, hoping. She nodded. "Yay! Chocolate chip pancake!"

"Alright, Kit, go get dressed." Kit nodded, bounding over at once to his dresser. The faster he complied, the faster he got his favorite breakfast. "Make sure its from your dresser, not your floor!"

Kit nodded, fishing through the piles of shirts, shorts, and pants for something he wanted to wear.

"Come to the living room when you're done." She said. "Here are your shoes." She sat them by his bed.

"Yes, mama!" he said, "Kit almost done!" And he was, for he had already pulled off his pajamas and was putting on his shorts, which were specially altered by his mama for his fluffy red, white-tipped tail. His mama left him to finish.

Moments passed, and soon Kit was barreling into the living room, shirt on backwards, shoes tied wrong, but determined to leave as he was. "Hurry mama, Kit want pancakes!" He cried, grabbing her pantleg and trying valiantly to pull her out the door.

His mama shook her head and swatted his hand away, chuckling as she made her way to him. "Not like that, Kit. Your shirt and shoes are both on wrong." With that, pulled off his shirt and put it back on right. "Remember, Kit, that the tag goes in the _back_ not the front."

Kit nodded. "Kay mama!" She pulled off his shoes and switched them, pointing to the cartoon pictures and telling him that they went on the _outside_ not the inside.

Another nod, this time more eager. "Now ready for pancakes?"

She sighed. "Yes, Kit, we are. This is a new place, too – we've never been there before." She knew he had focused much more on the pancakes waiting for him when she was finished than on what she had been showing him, but that didn't matter – the boy would be getting another lesson in proper shoe-tying and dressing later on tonight, along with his lesson on the alphabet.

Beaming, Kit raced for the door and wrenched it open, hardly waiting for her to shut it and lock it before he darted down the hall and down the stairs of the apartment.

"Kit, _wait_!" She knew he had heard her – he always heard her. He just wasn't listening. Fortunately for her, he didn't know the way to this particular breakfast place cause they had never been there before. He would stop at the street and wait.

Surely enough, when she made it to the bottom of the last flight of stairs, Kit was standing by the wall of the apartment near the stairs, half-crouched as he always was, yelling up at her.

"Mama, which?" he asked, pointing impatiently both ways. He wanted to know which way it was to the restaurant – not that she planned on telling him, that was like telling him to go run amok and get lost.

"Hold my hand, and you'll find out." Kit pouted, recognizing the dismissal of his chance to run ahead of her. Nonetheless, he came to her side and grabbed her hand, a sullen expression on his face.

"Kit no like to hold hand!" His vocabulary needed work, too.

"Well, unless you want us to go back home, you're going to have to." She replied. Kit didn't answer, only pouted and made a point to look away from her. However, in his stubborn cold shoulder and pretended interest in the scenery, he actually did end up deeply engrossed in the many people, cars, and dogs they passed, especially the toys in the shop windows. Fortunately for her, the pancake place was no more than a few blocks away. The boy was already yipping in excitement and attracting much more attention than she wanted merely because of is odd appearance and animalistic yipping. She made a point to glare dangerously at anyone who dared scowl or look wrongly at her son. He may have been a half demon but he was still an innocent child, half demon or not.

Minutes passed, and finally they had arrived at the destination. Kit was yipping excitedly and bouncing in place, straining to get away from her and run ahead further into the restaurant. If it hadn't been for her inhuman strength, he would have succeeded too. Unlike most demon-human pairs, she was the demon, not the human, in the affair. Kit would not be getting away from her like most hanyou children would from their already weak human mothers, made more helpless by the birthing of a half demon child.

The waiter sat them down at a small corner table, looking condescendingly at Kit and her as he took their orders. Kit, being a stubborn and defiant little foxling, glared right back and barred his fangs. This, of course, only backfired. Their food was not only exceedingly late, but in addition to being undercooked the order was completely wrong. She had ordered plain, regular pancakes and had gotten blueberry pancakes instead. She was perfectly fine with this, but she felt bad for Kit – his favorite chocolate chip pancakes had ended up coming out blueberry as well. He liked blueberry, but had been looking forward to getting chocolate chip all morning. Kit was now staring at his plate, sniffling and crying.

"Mama, pancakes wrong!" he cried. "Worker mean! Fix, mama? Fix? Please?"

She nodded. "I'll try." If it hadn't been for Kit, she would have merely motioned over another waiter. But because it was Kit, and their waiter had not only looked at him like he was the scum of the earth for no reasonable reason, she now had a vendetta against their waiter. He _would_ give Kit what he had ordered, or else he would deal with the consequences of pissing of a mother fox demon by messing with her kit. Anger flared and the demonic energy within her spiked. Surely, any demon within several miles, if not the whole city, knew her location, but that didn't matter. Her kit would get what he wanted from the human waiters, for once in his life, or else she would be getting revenge. One thing was sure – she wouldn't be coming here again.

Angry red youki flared, twisting and coursing around Kit's mother in a violent twister of potent demonic energy. Feeling his mother's anger in full, Kit hurriedly dove under the table, his ears pinned to his head in fear, his fluffed-out tail curled around him as he crouched low on the floor.

His mother stood, glaring at the waiter. The waiter man backed away, a look of fear passing over his face. Kit thought that he seemed too incompetent to realize the real danger he was in – he still seemed to think his mother a human – but, to the human's credit, he at least had the sense to back away, horrified, and start begging once his mother took up a very threatening expression.

"Human." She hissed. Kit peaked out from under the table, ears perked forward in curiosity. His mama was gonna beat up the mean human! Kit yipped in excitement. "You and your pathetic kind have gone out of your way for years now to make the lives of Hanyou like Kit hell. Most _human_ mothers would silently accept it and tell their Hanyou child to do the same." She advanced on the man, her red youki so potent it was no visible to the humans gathered in the restaurant as well. "_I_ however, am not a pathetic weakling like most _human_ mothers. I will not tolerate such treatment of my son, especially from a human whose job is to serve whoever comes in whatever they ask for."

Feeling slightly more confident now, Kit crawled out from under the table, half sitting, half crouching, on the cushioned red seat as he watched the mean human's face contort in fear, taking on the most ugly looking, horrified expression Kit had ever seen.

His mother continued. "Take Kit's plate back to the kitchens and bring out what he ordered." He said. Her commanding, authoritative voice made Kit almost want to shrink back under the table. Mama was really serious, now. Kit grinned. Mama usually got angry when the humans treated him mean, but mama had never gotten this angry! Mama always glared and whispered threats before hurriedly leaving. Maybe it had something to do with Mama's new job? The one that made her work from before dinner till really, really late at night, way after Kit went to bed?

Kit shook his head furiously. 'No think about that! Watch mama!' He turned his attention back to his mom. He laughed hysterically; mama was standing right in front of the mean human, in the aisle now, and the mean human was sputtering and stumbling over his words, trying to talk, but unable to complete even half of a sentence.

"B-but I…Th-they…I can-" his mama interrupted the mean human with a hard punch to the face that sent him soaring all the way across the aisle and halfway across the restaurant.

Kit grinned and laughed, pointing at the mean human. "Funny Mama! Mean human fly across room! Kit happy mean human hurt!"

Finished with the mean human, his mom turned to him. "Kit, we're leaving." His mom ordered, her icy cold voice commanding and authoritative. He nodded and darted across the seat, on all fours, and leapt off the seat. Upon him setting foot in the aisle, his mom motioned to him. Ears flicked back in an angry reluctance; he knew that motion. Growling, he resumed a semi-standing position, somewhat hunched over but for the most part standing up normally. They were in a human building, with lots of humans, and his mama wanted him to stand up when he walked like a human would. Kit hated standing, he preferred to walk on all fours like the half fox-demon he was. It went against his instincts to walk like a human did.

Taking his mother's hand, they walked out of the restaurant, at a somewhat hurried pace. He was having a hard time keeping up with his mom, she was going too fast. He wasn't used to walking on two legs, so his pace was awkward and a bit wobbly. At one point, two blocks away from the restaurant, he tripped and his hand was wrenched from his mother's as he went sprawling onto the sidewalk with a surprised yelp.

His mother stopped and knelt down to him. "Are you okay?" she asked. He could tell she didn't fully mean it; she knew he was okay, he fell all the time and never got hurt, but she asked it all the same. He nodded and stood up, pulling a disgruntled face as his mother brushed him off before taking his hand and resuming their treck. It was a moment before his mother spoke. "Kit, I'm sorry for what that human did to you back there."

Kit blinked in confusion, staring at her. "But mama no be mean…waiter human mean, not mama…mama no need apologize." He said, his face, wrinkled with confusion, clearing up suddenly as he recalled his mama's fight with the waiter. "Mama yell at waiter and hurt waiter for being mean! Mama nice to Kit, so Kit happy!"

His mom smiled. "I'm glad you're happy. But to make it up, would you like to go to the park?"

He beamed, immediately jumping up and down as he walked. "Yes! Kit want to go! Park, park!" he yipped.

"Alright then, we'll go to the park." His mom replied.

"Yay! Park, park, PARK!" he yipped, skipping gleefully down the sidewalk alongside his mother.

Upon arriving at the park, Kit instantly separated from his mom and ran towards the jungle gym. Kit climbed dexterously up the tall rectangular bars, making his way quickly to the top. Once there, he vaulted himself onto the topmost bars where he crouched, surveying the park for his mom. Then, he saw her; she was sitting on a bench, sort of out of the way, watching him. "Mama, look! Kit at top!"

His mom nodded. "I see. You're getting good at climbing, Kit. Remember to be careful!" she yelled.

Kit nodded. "Yes mama, Kit will!" However, actions spoke louder than words. The very next moment after he spoke, he leapt over from the jungle gym to the slides – a two yard distance. His mother froze momentarily, worried her clumsy kit would fall. Kit yelped as his clawed hands frantically gripped the bar, desperate not to fall. With a small yip, the little fox hanyou pulled himself onto the platform hanging several feet below him.

His mother breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "That kit is going to be the death of me one day…"

One of the children gathered at the top yelped when he landed. He turned to the girl, unsure of why she yelped, but, by the tone of her voice, certain that she had yelped because she had been scared. "Girl okay?" he asked, a glint of concern sparkling in his bright green eyes. "Girl scared. Girl okay?" The girl shook her head and quickly backed away from him, her face becoming horrified as she pointed at him. Kit advanced, walking up to her and looking inquisitively up at her, crouched down low now. "What wrong, girl?" he asked, his voice wavering with concern now.

He didn't understand that she was scared of him. His ears and tail, a deep red, weren't normal. Children like him were abnormal and uncommon, so a normal child such as the girl before him likely had never seen a half demon such as himself before. However, while his mother watching him from down below knew this, and had straightened to focus on Kit and the girl, Kit did not know this. The girl was sniffling and sputtering now, her face wet with tears as she began calling for her mom. "Mommy! Mommy, scary demon!"

Kit yipped in surprise, a hurt expression dawning on his face when he realized she was talking about him. "No, girl. Kit no demon, Kit half-demon! Kit nice."

But the girl would not have it. "Mommy, mommy! Help!" Two other children, who had been ignoring them up until now, turned and moved towards them.

One of them, an angry look on his face, glared intimidatingly down at Kit. "Leave my sister alone, demon! Go away!"

Kit shook his head ferverently, sinking down low in a gesture of submission, and tried again to persuade them. "No, you wrong. Kit good! Not bad." He yipped, "Be friends?"

The boy scowled, preferring to glare and push his sister behind him protectively rather than to say anything back. The boy looked to be older than him by about two or three years. The other child, appearing his age, spoke up. "Go away! Humans don't like demons."

Kit whimpered as tears welled up in his emerald eyes. "B-but Kit nice! Kit want friend! Kit stay?"

The childrens' mother there now, standing just below on the ground, looking up at them. "Emma, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

The girl – Emma, it seemed – shook her head. "No, mommy. A bad demon boy scared me! Make it go away!"

Emma's brother nodded. "Uh-huh. It won't leave us alone!"

The other child agreed. "Yeah. The demon won't go away. Make it leave, Emma and Jaden's mommy!"

The mother nodded and her calm, warm expression morphed into an angry glare as she turned her gaze to Kit. "Demon, where is you're mother?" As if the question was a summons, his mother appeared at their side.

"What is going on? Explain." Her voice, commanding and authoritative, left no room for anything but a concise reply.

"You're brat is bothering my children and their friend." The woman replied, venomously, "Take it away."

His mother glared. "My son is not an 'it'. He has a name, and I suggest you use it – he is called Kit."

The woman didn't bother correcting herself. "I don't care. Just take the demon brat and leave, your kind aren't welcome here."

His mother knelt down to him and picked him up. "Kit was not harassing your children, he was merely playing." His mother replied, "But if his only playmates are children with a mother such as yourself, then I don't want him playing here." His mother said, "We're leaving, Kit."

Kit nodded, burying his head in her shoulder and hiding from the glare of the woman and her children as they walked away. He didn't want to see them glaring at him, and he didn't want his mother to see him crying.

When they arrived back at the apartment, his mother sat him down on the couch and turned on cartoons for him. She departed briefly to retrieve a snack for him from the kitchen.

Kit almost smiled when she presented him with a handful of chocolates. "Thanks mama." He said. His voice lacked its usual enthusiasm, and he wasn't very into the cartoons. His mother sat down with him and for a long while they just sat there, silent. His mother was the one to break the ice.

"I'm sorry, Kit." She started, "I didn't mean for that to happen to you."

Kit nodded. "It okay mama." He replied, "But why humans do that? They mean and Kit do nothing!"

His mother sighed. "Well, Kit, humans don't like demons, whether they're half demon or full demon, and they have it in their heads that we're all evil and out to get them."

Kit's face scrunched up in confusion. "Why mama? We do nothing bad, why they think we bad?"

"I don't know, Kit. They just do, that's how they are." His mother replied.

"So humans will hate Kit cause Kit half demon?" His mother nodded. "Even if they no know Kit?" Another nod. "Oh…" Silence, then, "Then Kit no like humans!"

His mother laughed. "Hate them if you want to, Kit. I won't tell you not to."

Kit didn't reply, rather turning his attention to the chocolate she had given him. Opening piece after piece, he popped the hershey's kisses in his mouth and ate them all at once. He beamed. "Mmmm! Chocolate good mama!"

His mother smiled. "I'm glad. I bought them just for you the other day."

"Thanks mama!" Kit chirped. "Chocolate make Kit happy."

"That's why I got them." She replied. They spent the rest of the afternoon watching tv and eating chocolate.


	3. Chapter 3

Sunday came and went, and soon Monday was here. Kit's mother had been out working all day Sunday, as was usual, so it was expected that she would sleep in till about noon. She had gotten back in at midnight after being out with customers since dawn, so she was bound to be tired. When she finally woke up, she had groggily climbed in the shower and got herself ready for the day. She had planned to take Kit out to the mall today. They both needed new clothes for the summer, as Kit had long since outgrown his and all hers were faded and worn. It was rare that she got new clothes for herself, so she was rather excited for the occasion.

Once she was dressed and ready, she went down the hall to the living room. "Hey, Kit, come here!" she called. No reply. She was actually surprised to find that the lights in both the kitchen and the living room were out. Upon looking in the kitchen, she became concerned. No plates were placed haphazardly on the counter, no sign anyone had been in there yet. "Kit? Where are you?" she called, half to herself, half to her son.

'He couldn't still be in bed, could he?' she thought. 'No, that's impossible. He's always up long before me. By now he's usually already ate and sitting in front of the tv with a pile of toys….'

She marched down the hall to Kit's room. "Kit? Are you in there?" She opened the door. Sure enough, Kit was laying in his bed, fast asleep. "Huh. You really are asleep…" she walked over to him, relieved yet mildly concerned. Her concern became more than a mere passing worry when she realized that he looked feverish. His face was flushed and he looked sickly. "Wait a moment…" she felt his forehead. "Yup, fever." Going back into the kitchen, she retrieved some medicine for him and returned to his room.

"Kit? Wake up, Kit." A sleepy mumble, followed by coughing. Kit merely turned over and went to back to sleep. She shook him again, this time not as gently. "Kit, I need you to get up. I have some medicine."

Groggy eyes opened and Kit whined half heartedly. "No mama…Kit no want to get up…" She noticed with worry his voice was scratchy. "Sleep?"

"In a minute, just sit up and take this first." She helped him sit and gently tipped the medicine into his mouth. "Swallow it, Kit." She warned.

Kit scowled and made a nasty face, but reluctantly did so. "It taste bad!"

"I'm sorry. Now, stay awake for a moment, I'm going to go get you some more medicine-" A frustrated, yet pitiful yip from Kit interrupted her. "—and I'll bring you some toast to eat. Then you can go back to sleep." Kit's scowl deepened, and he flopped back down onto the pillow, turning away from her stubbornly. "Kit, remember, _stay awake._I can't have you puking because you didn't eat and get the right medicine in you." Kit pointedly ignored her as she walked out back to the kitchen.

Opening the medicine cabinet, she rifled through the many medicine bottles for the one she was looking for. "I know we had some leftover from last time he got strep throat, and by the scent he's giving off I'm sure he has it again..." she growled in frustration. "Where is it?" Finally, a minute later, she found the right bottle. "There!" Grabbing another medicine cup, she made to open the bottle and pour some in. However, when she made to pour it, she found there was only half a dosage left. "Damn it, I thought we had more than that." She sighed. "It took us a week to get a doctor to give us this, too." It was true; doctors refused to look at Kit because he was a half demon, and the few that did normally dismissed it as allergies or whatever and didn't give him anything for it. "Now we'll have to go the doctor so they'll prescribe more…"

Going to the closet, she slipped into her shoes, grabbed his shoes and went to his room. A doctor visit, it would be. "Kit are you still awake?" she called, walking into Kit's room.

As expected, the fox boy had went back to sleep. She sighed. "Kit, wake up. We have to go to the doctor and get you some more medicine. You have strep throat again."

Kit growled a frustrated, pitiful growl – or, rather, tried to but ended up getting into a small coughing fit - and turned away from her. "No mama! No doctor. Kit hate doctor office!"

"I'll get you an ice cream on the way home, if you behave." Kit instantly brightened, and she smirked as she watched him sit up. He was so easy to manipulate when she appealed to his sweet tooth. She hurriedly put his shoes on for him and grabbed his pillow and the small quilt she'd made him when he was a toddler. "Come on, its a long drive, so you can sleep in the car." Kit nodded blearily and held her hand as they walked out to the car. She put him in and got him situated, making a makeshift bed out of the back seats, and started the car.

Between the time they left the driveway, and the time they pulled into the doctors office an hour later, Kit had fallen fast asleep. She could tell his fever, while it was no longer worsening, wasn't receding. She hated making him go to the doctor with a fever, but they had to start this process early. It took forever; if they didn't have issues with the doctor, they had problems with the pharmacy.

They spent another half hour in the waiting room before they finally called Kit back. The doctor – the one who actually cooperated with them, who she was relieved to have finally a month ago – was a middle aged man with dark hair that had some streaks of grey in it. The doctor sat Kit in a chair by this mother – he was much more cooperative that way, the doctor had found out last time and did the usual checking out of Kit.

Minutes went by, and finally the moment she'd been dreading had came. The time for the strep test. 'The very reason I promised him ice cream…I hope he's good this time…'

When they'd stuck the 'flat stick' (as Kit called it) down his throat to get a sample, Kit flipped out and bit the stick in half, spat out the half that had been in his mouth, and then bit the hand of the doctor. Kit jumped to all fours, growling angrily and trying to intimidate the doctor while trying to fight back his human half's innate gag reflex all at the same time.

'So much for hoping he'd be good…' If not for his still having a fever, she would have cuffed him on the head for it instantly. Instead, she settled for a reprimand. " Kit! _Do not bite the doctor!_" Kit snarled defiantly. "I thought you wanted ice cream after this." Kit's ears swiveled to face her, and he backed down, turning to look at her pleadingly.

"No, mama! Kit want ice cream! No be mad?"

She smirked. "Then apologize and behave!"

Kit pouted and his tail twitched in irritation. "But mama!"

"_Kit!_" She growled warningly.

Kit pouted, but nonetheless pressed his ears to his head, and he bent low in submission. "'Kay mama…Kit will…" His tail stopped twitching, now flat and rather unenthused as Kit turned to the doctor. "Sorry doctor…Kit bad to bite doctor…no be mad?"

The doctor smiled reassuringly, wincing slightly as he applied anti-bacteriant to his hand and started wrapping it. "Its okay, kid. Now, lets try this again, shall we? Don't bite me this time."

Kit nodded, coughing a bit as he did so. "'Kay…" He was reluctant, but at least he was obeying. She smiled.

Kit obeyed the doctor, allowing the man to put another 'flat stick' down his throat, gagging and coughing a bit as the doctor pulled the stick back and let him be. "Ew! Bad taste! Bad stick! Kit no like!"

The doctor grinned. "Good job, kid. No biting, this time."

Kit looked at the man, acknowledging the fact he'd spoken to him, but angrily refusing to reply. Shrugging, the doctor left the room. Kit turned to her and climbed into her lap. "Mama, Kit wanna leave!" he exclaimed, coughing again, "Can we leave, Mama?"

She shook her head. "In a bit, okay? We have to wait for the doctor to test the stick first."

Kit pouted once more. "But that boring! Kit no wanna wait! Kit wanna sleep!"

She looked at him sternly, yet gently. "Remember, Kit, if you're good you get ice cream on the way home." She put a hand to his forehead. "Hm. You're fever is starting to go away. That's good."

Kit smiled. "Then we leave?" he asked, hopefully.

She shook her head again. "Sorry, nope. We need to let the doctor test the stick so he can give us a note for some medicine."

Kit frowned. "Why we need note?"

"Because without the note the people behind the counter at the pharmacy won't give us the medicine we need." She explained, her voice tense as she started to run low on patience. 'Even if we have the prescription slip they probably won't give it to us…'

"Awwww….Kit wanna go! Kit tired!"

She growled. 'If he were just human he wouldn't have this much energy to complain still…'

"If you're tired, how are you still complaining?"

"Cause Kit want home!" She sighed. Fortunately, as if called by her frustration, the doctor chose at that moment to return.

"So how did it turn out?" she asked, straining to remain calm.

"He has strep again, miss."

"I know he's half demon, but is there any chance he can get his tonsil removed if it happens again?"

The doctor nodded. "Yes. He's had it so many times, I would actually recommend doing it once he's recovered from it this time."

She gave a small smile of relief. "Good. I'll schedule an appointment when he's better."

Kit, however, wasn't pleased. He had managed to arrange the pillow and blanket she'd brought in so that he could sleep in his chair, and was currently hiding under the blanket from the doctor. "No more doctor office trips! No, no no mama! Kit no go!"

"Do you want to get sick again?" No reply, just a huff of indignance. "That's what I thought."

A few minutes later, the doctor bade them good afternoon and they were finally able to leave the doctor's office. They walked back to the car and drove off. On the way home, she pulled into the drive-thru of a dairy queen.

"Kit, what do you want?" she asked.

Kit gave a happy yip of delight – followed by coughing. "Kit want chocolate ice cream cone!"

She nodded. "All right then, chocolate it is."

"With cone!" Kit insisted.

"Yes, I know. With a cone."

Moments later, Kit was happily licking a chocolate ice cream cone. "Yay, yay yay! Chocolate ice cream cone!"

"Now what do you say?" she prompted.

"Thanks mama!" Kit chirped.

She dropped Kit off at home and got him settled on the couch with a drink and some cartoons, before she hopped back in the car.

'Time to get the medicine.' She thought. Upon arriving at the nearest pharmacy, she handed them the doctor's slip. They gave her a nasty smile and turned her away. "Sorry, we don't carry that here." She growled, but retreated back to the car. 'As if they don't carry that! Its regular strep medicine!'

Three pharmacies later yielded the same results. As she walked into the fifth pharmacy of the hour, she made a silent promise it would be the last.

She slammed the slip down on the counter. "Get me this medicine, _now_! I know you carry it, and I know you can't be out cause your human laws require that you not only carry it but always have it in stock, so hand it over!"

The lady shook her head. "Sorry, ma'am. We sold the last one an hour ago. More should be in by tomorrow."

She growled. "_I am not a weak, pathetic human. I can *smell* it! Its on the fourth row, right column, third row, middle section. My son should not be denied medicine simply because he's a half demon. Go get it now!"_

The lady backed up, shaking her head once more. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but that medicine will not have any effect on a half demon!"

"LIE! My son has found it works just _fine_ four times now!" She let some of her youki seep into her veins, and her nails became claws. Before the lady could run, she had her clawed hand wrapped around the lady's throat. "Go. Get. It." She released the woman, throwing her down near the first row. "Hurry. My kit's been waiting for an hour now!"

The lady refused again, and this time the manager came out. She growled menacingly. She was through being humane. More youki seeped into her veins, coursing around her in a violent, angry whirlwind. Directing it, she formed it into cords of youki and shot it at the lady and the manager, making it wrap around their throats and break their necks before tossing them aside. Letting her keen sense of smell guide her, she moved the cords deeper into the aisles and retrieved the medicine. Checking the label and taking a wiff of it, she reassured herself it was the correct one. 'Good. Now I can leave and get back to Kit."

With that, she ran out of the pharmacy, ignoring the yells of the people, the screaming police sirens, everything. She sped down the highway and into the parking lot of their apartment complex.

Darting up the stairs and down the hall, she burst into the house, hurriedly set her stuff down, and ran to Kit.

She could smell fever on him. 'His fever's back, and this time its higher.' Uncapping the medicine, she poured some into the cup and prodded Kit awake. "Kit, I have medicine. I need you to sit up so you can take it."

Kit whined, turning over and resuming his sleep. "Uh-uh."

"Kit." Her voice was in warning tone again.

Kit coughed. "But mama!"

"Do you want to get better?"

Kit huffed. "Fine…'kay mama…" Reluctantly, Kit sat up and took the medicine. "Ew…taste bad! Kit no like!"

She sighed heavily. 'And I'll have to do this every day until he's better…' Kit, meanwhile, turned over and went back to sleep.

Days passed, and soon Kit was better. It was Sunday now, and they were out at the mall. "Mama, Kit no like shopping! Shopping boring! Kit want toy!"

"As long as you're good." Was her usual reply. Sadly enough, just like with the doctor visit, her expectations for 'normal' were altered. Being good at the doctor meant only biting the doctor rather than attacking him or having to be chased, hissing and spitting and yowling, down the hall to be drug back to the doctor. Being good at the mall meant only straying from her side in stores, complaining and begging a lot, and only yelling to passer-bys rather than running off across the mall or running up to passer-bys and talking to them.

Kit scowled. "No! Kit want toy store!"

She responded with a scowl of her own. "None of your summer clothes fit anymore. We _will_ be getting new ones even if I have to tie you down with my youki to a shopping cart and push you, kicking and screaming, into every single store."

"But mama-!" A growl from her silenced him. He pouted. "'Kay mama…Kit be good…get toy when done?"

She nodded. "Yes. But only if you behave."

Kit grinned. "Yay, toy! Toy TOY!"

In the end, Kit did indeed end up getting a toy. Rationally, she should not have been frowning with displeasure as they exited the mall, six bags heavier than when they originally went in. Kit had been relatively well behaved, and they had found what they needed. What had her frowning in displeasure was the 'WANTED' sign posted on the light poll with her face on it.

Squinting, she read the font. "Its for what happened at the pharmacy last week.' She could have pushed it aside, she was a demon after all, how could humans capture her? She normally would've shrugged it aside – it wasn't anything new, it was one of the main reasons they moved from town to town, going from job to job – but for some reason, it nagged at her consciousness for the remainder of the day.


End file.
